An evening-length theatrical oratorio performed at the Floyd and Delores Jones Playhouse November 2015, TheWithing Project concerns the idea that humans can engage in a way that results in connection outside of consciousness. While this has long been a matter of faith, it is also now a matter of science: recent work done at the University of Washington shows that a visual stimulus seen by one individual will lead to changes in cerebral blood flow in another at a distance. Nonetheless, the common experience of being "in synch" with another is often dismissed. Integrating music, theater, dance, and film footage of results of functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging studies of brains that are "in synch," The Withing Project provides a framework for exploration of this phenomenon and a celebration of an understanding that many describe as "something I've felt all along."The story of The Withing Project centers on Rachel Black, a woman in her forties with liver cancer, her physician Lisa Webster, and Lisa’s friend Greg Yarman, a neuroscientist who presents scientific findings that invoke principles of a new and controversial field of science, quantum consciousness. Each character is played by one singer, one dancer, and one actor.The collaborators on this project have been working together since early 2014 to bring a performance to Seattle that bridges the intersection of art and science. Hope Wechkin, composer and librettist, is a physician specializing in the care of patients with terminal illness, and brings to the work both her background as a musician as well as an understanding of patients', families', and healthcare workers' need for a shared sense of the real and transformative nature of "withing." Cathy Madden, principal lecturer in the School of Drama and internationally recognized expert in the Alexander Technique, directs the project and brings to bear decades of experience directing both traditional and large-scale, site-specific theatrical productions. Beth Graczyk, choreographer and research scientist in the field of mitosis, brings to the project both her scientific background and the ability to translate abstract concepts into the language of dance. Leanna Standish, neuroscientist, brings her groundbreaking work in neuroimaging and consciousness science to the project. Philip Tschopp, known throughout the Northwest as a champion of new music, brings decades of experience as a conductor of both instrumental and choral ensembles to the collaboration.